What are the least known BIG cities in the world? (live, airport)

[Trimac20]

Which cities with metropolitan populations of over 5 million people do you think are the least known to the average person?

I didn't say 'mega-city' because to me, a mega-city is 10 million+. 5 million is a big big city, between a sizable city and a mega-city.

Of course there are a few in China, but even within China, there aren't all that many metros with over 5 million that are hardly known. Same with India. Latin America might also have a few.

Some examples I can think of include:

Dhaka, Bangladesh - 7 million with metro of 13-14 million
Chongqing, China - 'metro' of 28 million, although the city region includes a huge area
Tianjin, China - Metro of 10 million
Kinshasa, Congo - Metro of 8-9 million
Tehran, Iran - Metro of 8.5 million
Bangalore, India - metro of 8.4 million
Lahore, India - metro of 8.1 million
Shenyang, China - metro of 8.1 million
Bandung, Indonesia - metro of 7.4 million
Changsha, China - metro of 7.0 million
Hyderabad, India - metro of 6.8 million
Bogota, Colombia - metro of 6.8 million
Surabaya, Indonesia - metro of 6.7 million
Changchun, China - metro of 6.5 million
Amedebad, India - metro of 5.6 million
Harbin, China - metro of 5.6 million - somewhat well known for it's climate

[Trimac20]

Of these list, Changchun and Amedebad strike me as the LEAST known of all, even I hadn't heard of them, while I think most Americans have probably not heard of the rest. Dhaka is probably the most obscure and least impressive of the true mega-cities, imo.

[cmptrwlt]

I believe Tehran and Bogota are the two most known.

[botticelli]

I was gonna say Chongqing, as it has almost the entire population of Canada. It is about the size of Austria as well, pretty big for a municipality.

[SophieLL]

I think of those Bogota is by far the most known, but maybe it is to me that i always lived in South America. Tehran is also pretty known.

The rest are pretty unknwon, i agree.

[dunno what to put here]

Dhaka,
Chongqing
Tehran, Iran
Bangalore, India
Lahore, India
Bogota, Colombia

Those are the ones that I automatically recognised.

[tablemtn]

Kinshasa is the third-largest metro area on the entire African continent (behind Cairo and Lagos, and ahead of the Johannesburg region) with nearly 10 million people, but it is usually ignored. For a metro of its size, its connections to the outside world are quite limited. Its main airport only has direct flights to three destinations outside of Africa (Paris, Brussels, and Istanbul). Unlike other cities around Africa, it doesn't even have flights to Dubai/Qatar/Kuwait/Abu Dhabi/Riyadh or other Mideast air hubs, nor any flights to China.

[robertpolyglot]

The thought of going to Bogota makes me gag. What a crime-ridden place! The US State Department advises Americans against a trip to Colombia. At least, they used to have some cautionary documentation in place.

My friend's Colombian wife, at intervals of various years, tried to coax me to go down there to visit and hang out with her relatives (and get one of her cousins a green card in the process). This is sad because, due to this repeated behavior, I am no longer friends with her husband, my friend.

I was wondering if you meant "visited." My initial reaction was Buenos Aires. Because it is not on the way to anywhere (such as a connection point for flights), most people who go there make it a deliberate trip. I am really glad I got to see this beautiful and interesting city.

[paull805]

Bogota, Lahore, Bangalore, Tehran and Dhaka are hardly unknown.

What about Baku, Azerbaijan?

[mattydow]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

The thought of going to Bogota makes me gag. What a crime-ridden place! The US State Department advises Americans against a trip to Colombia. At least, they used to have some cautionary documentation in place.

How can you so easily dismiss such a large city that, based on the sound of your post, you've never even been to? Bogota is awesome. I've been several times and I loved every minute of it. It's been a couple of years since my last trip so things may have changed, but it was hardly what I would call "crime-ridden" when I was there. And for the record, quite a lot of State Dept. travel warnings are a complete joke. I remember there were travel warnings for Buenos Aires the first time I went, and that was a YEAR after the economic crisis.

And as for the original question, I'm inclined to think that any huge Chinese city that has experienced explosive economic/population growth in the recent past are probably the most unknown. Cities like Dhaka, Tehran, Bangalore, Bogota, etc. have been big cities for a while and, at least to me, have more name recognition. The only cities on the list I hadn't heard of at all were a few of the Chinese ones (Changchun and Changsha).